NACO, Mexico — A light blue station wagon pulls up to a brown two-story house. Two men emerge and walk toward the home, handguns drawn.

What follows next is silence. Cast, crews, and onlookers wait for the signal that cameras have stopped rolling.

For the past month, the small city of Naco, Sonora — population about 6,500 — has become a filming set for a Mexican television comedy series titled "Run Coyote Run."

Each day, crew members close off certain blocks along the city. They set up cameras and equipment, then spend several hours shooting as the Naco residents look on in delight from outside their homes or across the street.

It's a temporary change of pace for the people living in this usually-sleepy border town, located across from the unincorporated community of Naco, Arizona.

With multiple scenes shooting around town on some days, it's been easy to come across film crews.

"I was passing through here and I came across them, so I decided to stay here for a bit watching them," Naco resident Fernando Valenzuela said, standing behind a setup with cameras, mics, and other filming equipment.

"I knew who they were right away. I recognized the main actor, a blond guy, from watching the series, and I see that he's right there. I even recorded him a bit."

The two main actors in a Mexican television series set in the twin border communities of Naco rehearse a scene on March 22, 2019.(Photo: Rafael Carranza/The Republic)

What is the series about?

The comedy series, set in the twin communities of Naco, talks about two friends, one Mexican and one American, who set up an adventure travel agency — which the series is named after — but is instead used as a front to smuggle people into the United States.

After two well-received seasons on the Latin American version of the FX network, "Run Coyote Run" is wrapping up filming in Naco for its third season.

Gustavo Loza, the creator and director for the series, told The Arizona Republic that he chose this border community because he was looking for a small, picturesque town along the U.S.-Mexico border.

"What I find interesting is the level of ignorance that exists from Mexicans and Americans about the true situation at the border and what happens here," he said. "They don't know, and they're not aware."

The cast and crew began filming in Naco three years ago. As part of the shooting, crews painted a mural along the bollard-style border fence, installed here less than two years ago. The mural features the three colors of the Mexican flag — green, white, and red —and in the middle, the words "bad muro" painted in black letters.

The phrase, according to the film crews, is a reference to President Donald Trump's comments about "bad hombres" coming from Mexico to the United States.

The mural has now essentially become a point of reference and a symbol for this small town.

One character is the border fence

In addition to the actors themselves, Loza said he wanted the city itself and the border fence that separates the twin communities to play a big role in the series.

"The more time I spend here, the more I realize that this whole talk about 'build a wall' is nothing more than a publicity stunt to get votes — and has nothing to do with the reality; it has nothing to do with what really happens here," Loza said.

The response from Naco residents has been largely positive, although for some, it took time to adjust. Some residents, including Maria Elsa Valdez, said they were initially skeptical — and even angry — about their city's portrayal in a show about human smuggling.

"I hadn't seen the series, but I would hear comments from people that they said this and that about Naco. And my blood would boil," she said. "But when I watched the series in its entirety, I really enjoyed it."

Valdez took a break from work, making piñatas, to watch the filming right outside her porch. The proximity led to several reprimands from the film crew, asking her to stay out of the shot or to be more quiet. But she remained there, watching and taking pictures for her son, who had introduced her to the series.

Naco resident Maria Elsa Valdez took a break from work to watch film crews shooting scenes for a Mexican television series outside her home.(Photo: Rafael Carranza/The Republic)

Despite the occurrence of smuggling and trafficking, Valdez said she was happy to have the crew take a chance on her community, even if the show also deals with that very topic.

"People only talk about the bad things. But I'm glad this opportunity came up," she added. "I'm thinking that maybe because of everything bad that happens, they chose my little Naco."

Loza recognized the sensitivity of smuggling and trafficking along the border. But he said he tried to approach it with humor to go beyond the cut-and-dried perceptions surrounding the topic.

"What's different is that (the characters) have good hearts and are not necessarily looking to make people suffer," he said. "They're noble characters that help people cross. So, through them, we're able to talk about a very sensitive subject, but from an angle that allows us to delve into the topic deeper."

Because the series takes places on both sides of the border, the film crew also will be shooting several scenes in Arizona.

Once the cast and crew wraps up in Naco, Sonora, they will head back to Mexico City for another month for interior shots, Loza said. But in May, they will spend almost two weeks north of the border.

Although the locations still haven't been set, Loza said he expects to film scenes in Naco, Arizona, as well as in Bisbee and Tucson. The cast and crew will then travel to Los Angeles and San Francisco to wrap up filming for the season.